A newly renovated correctional building in Salt Lake City opened its doors this week to a very different kind of population: people with repeated low-level convictions who are experiencing homelessness, now being offered housing and treatment instead of another trip through the jail system. The Orange Street Community Correctional Center held its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, marking the start of Utah’s ARCH Project, a Department of Corrections program built specifically for people who cycle through jails, hospitals, shelters and emergency rooms without ever finding stable footing.
The program can house up to 180 people at a time across three buildings, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, and offers treatment and housing for roughly six to eight months, with case management and personalized attention extending for up to three years for some participants. State officials say about 1,300 Utahns are likely eligible for the program, which they describe as the first corrections-agency effort of its kind in the country. As of Wednesday, four people had entered the program, the Tribune reported — though KJZZ separately reported that three people were enrolled and expected to transfer to the Orange Street center.
ARCH serves people convicted of low-level crimes such as trespassing or shoplifting, generally those with five or more such convictions, and aims to give them an alternative path out of the jails, rehabilitation facilities, emergency rooms and shelters they otherwise keep cycling through. Utah judges can assign eligible people to the program as court-ordered probation, and the project is meant to help participants obtain vital documents and connect with employment opportunities along the way.
How Lawmakers Funded the Program
The ARCH Project exists because the Utah Legislature passed HB110 during the 2026 session, enabling the Department of Corrections to build it. Lawmakers allocated $2.6 million in one-time funding for facility renovations and $6 million in ongoing annual funding for staffing and operations, and the department hired about 50 new staff members to run it, per the Tribune’s reporting…